This may be a dumb question, but I'm a fairly recent revert, so please bear with me...

I have a bunch of rosaries, religious medals and a statue of the Blessed Mother. None have been blessed by a priest. How do I go about having them blessed? Is there a certain etiquette involved (are items blessed on a particular feast day or a certain time of year, etc...), or do I just approach the priest after mass and ask him to bless the items? If all falls into place, I will be having my marriage convalidated in early February - would it be appropriate to bring the items and ask the priest to bless them then?

This may be a dumb question, but I'm a fairly recent revert, so please bear with me...

I have a bunch of rosaries, religious medals and a statue of the Blessed Mother. None have been blessed by a priest. How do I go about having them blessed? Is there a certain etiquette involved (are items blessed on a particular feast day or a certain time of year, etc...), or do I just approach the priest after mass and ask him to bless the items? If all falls into place, I will be having my marriage convalidated in early February - would it be appropriate to bring the items and ask the priest to bless them then?

Thanks!

Take a deep breath -- this is an easy one.

Just take your collection to any priest and kindly ask him to bless everything. Some will do the blessing on the spot, others will have you follow them to a place where they can use holy water as part of the blessing.

If you have something for which a specific blessing exists (such as bells) he might well refer to a copy of the Book of Blessings for the blessing.

A great time to have you collection blessed is when you meet with the priest in preparation for your convalidation.

Dear Tweetybird,
You can have your priest bless these items any time. Just make an appointment for that purpose, bring all your items and participate prayerfully in the brief ritual. You don't need to do specific things, just listen to the priest's prayers of Blessing and add Amen at the appropriate times.
After these items are blessed keep them in places of honor.
Good luck!

The Book of Blessings gives a range of options for blessing rosaries, medals, small crucfixes, statues or pictures that will be displayed elsewhere than a church.

The priest or deacon can have a big ceremony, or "1445 When a single religious article is to be blessed, the minister may use the shorter rite provided at the end of this chapter, nos. 1458-1461, or in special circumstances, the short formularly given in no. 1462."

Does the priest or deacon want to do several blessings of single items? If so, the words given in 1462 are: "May this (name of article) and the one who uses it be blessed, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit." The response is "Amen". (Book of Blessings, Liturgical Press, Minnesota, 1989, ISBN 0-8146-1875-8, page 549.)

I would have thought the bigger ceremony, of the several articles, would be more appropriate. This requires some planning, and the priest will need to have the Book of Blessings.

I suppose it was the priest's decision about how he handled this situation of a rosary "dropped off" for a blessing

The Book of Blessings emphasizes the communal nature of blessing ceremonies in its introduction:

"16 Blessings are part of the liturgy of the Church. Therefore their communal celebration is in some cases obligatory but in all cases more in accord with the character of liturgical prayer; ...".

In n. 17 it describes how there can be no assembly, just the person asking God's favor and the minister. It ends "The celebration of the blessing of things or places according to custom should not take place without the participation of some of the faithful."

For meals, the Book of Blessings is explicit: "1030 Christians, whether alone or with companions at table, say grace before and after meals to thank God ....".

If there's a great many things, would it be feasible to ask your priest to come bless your *home* (unless that's already been blessed) and while doing so, the specific items (rosaries, statues, medals) may be blessed while he's there.

Single items, we've pretty much just hung back until the majority of others have left after Mass, and ask for the item to be blessed at that point. I probably wouldn't do more than two or three smallish things (like a rosary and a medal, for example) at one time. I don't think there's any reason why not, just I'd feel awkward with too many things.

I suppose it was the priest's decision about how he handled this situation of a rosary "dropped off" for a blessing

The Book of Blessings emphasizes the communal nature of blessing ceremonies in its introduction:

"16 Blessings are part of the liturgy of the Church. Therefore their communal celebration is in some cases obligatory but in all cases more in accord with the character of liturgical prayer; ...".

In n. 17 it describes how there can be no assembly, just the person asking God's favor and the minister. It ends "The celebration of the blessing of things or places according to custom should not take place without the participation of some of the faithful."

For meals, the Book of Blessings is explicit: "1030 Christians, whether alone or with companions at table, say grace before and after meals to thank God ....".

But I cannnot think of anything else that should be blessed alone.

I find that interesting since I've taken a number of pilgrimages accompanied by priests. If we'd been to a shrine - or towards the end of the trip, we'd sometimes be told if we had anything we wanted blessed - to hold it up - and the priest would bless all holy articles., etc. Aside from having thought that holy water should be used (I'm not a priest so I'm never sure), I didn't see a need for individual person's request. Very interesting.

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